Captured

The Corporate Infiltration of American Democracy

With a new preface by the author

A leading member of the Senate Judiciary Committee “spells out, in considerable detail, the extent of corporate influence over a variety of issues” in national politics (The New Yorker)

“Sheldon Whitehouse is one of the most respected and thoughtful progressives in the Senate. His energy and enthusiasm make him a powerful voice in defending our American democracy against the relentless, pervasive—and often hidden—power of corporate special interests.” —Senator Elizabeth Warren

As a U.S. senator and former federal prosecutor, Sheldon Whitehouse has had a front-row seat for the spectacle of dark money in government. In his widely praised book Captured, he describes how corporations buy influence over our government— not only over representatives and senators, but over the very regulators directly responsible for enforcing the laws under which these corporations operate, and over the judges and prosecutors who are supposed to be vigilant about protecting the public interest.

In a case study that shows these operations at work, Whitehouse reveals how fossil fuel companies have held any regulation related to climate change at bay. The problem is structural: as Kirkus Reviews wrote, “many of the ills it illuminates are bipartisan.”

This paperback edition features a new preface by the author that reveals how corporate influence has taken advantage of Donald Trump’s presidency to advance its agenda—and what we can do about it.

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Praise

“An eye-opening take on what corporate influence looks like today.”
—Publishers Weekly
“An extraordinarily intelligent and wide-ranging critique of the current state of our political and economic affairs. This book reminds me distinctly of the great muckraking texts of the progressive era—texts that really shook up the status quo in the American polity and economy. And I truly believe that this book has the potential to be one of those much-needed historic calls-to-action. . . . Bravo!”
—William Novak, Charles F. and Edith J. Clyne Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School
“An elected official who speaks the truth.”
—Janet Larson, Earth Policy Institute
“No, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse doesn’t believe that corporations are people. No, he doesn’t think that corporations are bad. But, yes, he does want them out of American politics.”
—The Boston Globe
“Tells hard truths about the central threat posed by the role of the rich . . . and how it is overwhelming democracy.”
—Liz Kennedy, Center for American Progress
“For climate activists—or really anyone who thinks climate change is a problem—there’s a lot to love about Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.”
—Think Progress
“Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island has built his career around the seemingly unrelated issues of climate change and money in politics. His new book reveals how intimately connected they turn out to be.”
—Jeffrey Toobin, The New Yorker

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